Sven's FA girl in payout claim

Former secretary Faria Alam told an employment tribunal today that she had been the victim of sexual harassment by her boss, the FA's executive director David Davies.

She also said that England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson urged her to deny they had an affair when details were made public.

The 39-year-old said the manager advised her to lie about their fling if questioned by her employers following revelations in newspapers last summer.

Miss Alam later resigned from her job after revelations that she had conducted affairs with both Eriksson and the then FA chief executive Mark Palios.

She told the tribunal, sitting in central London: "Mr Eriksson instructed to me that if questioned by the FA, I should deny that I was having any relationship with him. He would do the same.

"I did not want to do anything which might get Mr Eriksson into trouble."

She said the England boss had shown an interest in her soon after she joined the FA in July 2003.

She said: "He would often appear on the floor where I worked and give me compliments.

"He would telephone me and ask what I was wearing. He told me that I was beautiful. He would often say 'you have never tried me, give me a chance'."

Miss Alam, a former part-time model, said she had told Eriksson she did not want a relationship because he had a long-standing partner, Nancy Dell'Olio.

The tribunal heard that the England boss told the personal assistant that he and Miss Dell'Olio had been "leading separate lives for over a year".

'Very scared'

Miss Alam, who is claiming she was the victim of destructive dismissal, sexual discrimination, breach of contract and unequal pay, also said she was later intimidated into giving consent to a statement released by the FA denying she and Eriksson had had an affair.

She said she was "slightly bullied" and "very scared" by senior officials in a meeting to question her about the matter.

Miss Alam told the tribunal she had kept a record of occasions when she had been the victim of alleged sexual harassment.

She said of Mr Davies: "He made unwanted physical overtures to me. At his flat on one occasion in 2003, he tried to hold me close and kiss me while I left."

She alleged that Mr Davies had conducted himself improperly during meetings in her flat and in the FA's headquarters.

She said: "On several occasions when we were alone in the lift together, he would try and kiss me on the lips. I would rebuff him."

Miss Alam, who was employed as personal assistant to Mr Davies, told the tribunal: "During my term of employment I was sexually harassed at work by David Davies."

She also claimed that the notebook in which she had kept records of her claims of harassment later went missing from her desk drawer.

The tribunal heard that Miss Alam believed FA employees attempted to gain access to her personal email account and had "briefed against her" through the media.

Ms Alam, who is understood to be seeking around £30,000 in compensation, alleges she was the victim of constructive unfair dismissal.